Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-04
SLAVERY.
A Cry for Help from the Boz dsmen OF
the Pennsylvania Coal Mines.
The Dragon OF
Monopoly That Blasts the Lives of Men
and Devours Chiidren-Brealers
ead Crushers.
&ew York " orld

NoA4a' IL 10 - uC' = bbSi ILiS ''-c>t"' Va ~
lection in protection stronghold, under
tne disgrsced flag OF the Keystone state,
there lives and fcurishas slavery which
is shame upon the name Of America. /
have seen is horrid form, and blush for
the government, which permits it.
a CRY for help goes out from Thousands
and thousands CT slaves Of the coal mines.
Here they .ye, right in the heart OF these
grand old mountains, il the b5esst OF
Pennsylvania, the mother Of iaGuDeadenCe.
Here they ere in sw2rming thousands;
poor, helpless, dOWu-tfOdden bondsmen.
They dwell on the tops of mOuDtains, bare
and grizzly, covered only with brush end
the naked skeletons of dead trees. They
inhsbit huts and kennels il valleys chokeG
with the dust OF coal and slate, and bear
ing turgid streams once famous trout
brooks, now poisonous sluiCes, down to
mark the rivers with the sigu-manuel CT
the business which is so fUlt of death and
destruction TO those who follow it. From
out the peopied wastes and mpltitudin-
Gus soIltudes, where are eXhumed
the precious black diamonds which
warm the work. when the sua Is playing
truant beyond the equator, mas this cry
gone forth unheard aud UNDECIDED. 1t is
the cry Of enslavCG men, of hungry women
and naked caIlireE-2 cry for bread and
Justice; but these that utter Is feel that
the world is very far sway and utterly
deaf, SO far, at least, as they are con-
cerned. On, but it IS e monster of hid
eous mein that bToods on these m0untsin
tops Matching mischief, and woe TO the
weak. Call il By what name you will
unity Of interest, combination, trust,
monopoly, or perhaps conspiracy
you cannot change the dlgboliCal
nature Of the beast. You get the ing
Of the dragons tail down in New
York when you pay unhoiy prices fer
your Goals. Up here they feel the jaws,
the sharp teeth, the interruptions bIeatn.
Here Sir Dragon blasts the lives OF strong
men. He devouls little children. He
delights in the walls and tears of women,
lie tiichos money from the pockets of
poverty, and rObs bellies that are already
empty.
Ten days SGD the World sent out g cor
respondent with orders TO investigate
thoroughly and report without bias the
condition Of affairs il the anthracite re-
had baeE received. II was said
robbery were practced; that
the miners were forced to endSngcr tneiI
lives by working with ignorant Slavs and
Huns, who, because they were willing tc
work for so and 20 cents 8 dsy, were SEN
into the mines when they could not speak
English, when they did not know the
danger CT the business, ard when theil
presence was constant menace both t
themselves snd to intelligent miners; tina
the miners and their families were bourc
in chains of debt to dishonest employers
and that they could obtain no redress fo
their wrongs, which were daily growing
more grevlous. From personal obServa
ton in the big eastern middle region,
can say that all of these charges GRE true
Nay, they do not begin to tell the tale
have seen miles CT cars side-tiacket
in order to hold them back, restric
work, shorten the visible supply. ant
make US pay enhsnced prices for Goa
next winter. | have seen COmp8ny store:
where miners sre charged double rate
for mine supplies and the necessaries o
life. / have seen at Hszelbrook, GoWen
Jeddo, Highland. Beaver Meadow, Stock
ton, Hazleton, men living in and psyln;
gross rentals for miserable sites that yoI
would hate to house horse in.
o, the hellS that men build and thel
call them breakers! Breakers, indeed
breskers Of hearts end lives, breakers @
decrepit age and half-formed youth
breakers of body, mind and soul at 3
cents the day.
Everybody NAV not know that & coal
breaker is G. huge frame structure, s sor
Of four story barn, shaped something TX
the capital letter \, which stands st tn
mouth Of 6 stope or entrance to O mine
Cars loaded with coal are drawn to tn
top of this structure and contents dump
ed into big hopper. As they fall the
are divided by men and machinery
crushed by bic rollers, sorted into the r.
speCtive sizes Of commerce, cleaned c
their slate and delivered below into cars
l visited one of the Pardee's breaker
not tsr from H4Z.etOu. Pardee is tt
tWenty-millionSiIe coal king, Tho is est
mated the closest man in Hsz,etoQ. Il
opened his heart on the Fourth aud cor
t!ibuted SO to the celebration fund. Il
also founded something recently down
Easton. Pardee's coIlieries gladden. IL
sight sll about HsZleton. Thousands {
acres OF black swamp and hundreds {
cSve-ins ana wicked looking holes testii
TO the huge wealth which Pardee be
taken out of the earth. Rather ar II
nocuous old man Is Perdee, though undt
his ownership men have suffered mar
wrongs. He is simply svaricious OF
stingy Compared to the horrors
HszIebrook and Gowep, people say he
white robed angel.
The breaker, into which we climbe
haphazard, was an average one Of mediu
size. Some of the big ones, l am toll
employ about $50 boys, out this one g
along with twenty or thirty, besides hs
SIS many men. Ii is against the laws
Pennsylvania for any company TO empls
boys under twelve years of age in
breaker, but If there is g single colllery
this region which complies with this Ia
il hides Its light very carefully under
bushel.
Entering the breaker by g steep, i
chned pathway OF boards, we were 500
lost amid an intricate collection of lois
and beams and cumbersor
machinery. The air was muir
sud filed with dust. The beams we
covered with it, ard it was useless
try to keep clean. The huge structu
trembled under the strain of the lo1
steel cable and the cars ascending and q
scending the slope. A single board OF
succession of boards lead the way slo
One could not help thinking what dea!
trap the breaker would be 10 case